Jerusalem Blanketed by Snow as Region Hit With Heavy Rains

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest snowstorm to hit
Jerusalem in more than two decades shut down much of the city
today, after four days of heavy rain also caused flood damage
and power outages in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

The snow reached 15 to 20 centimeters (6 to 8 inches) in
parts of Jerusalem before tapering off in the early afternoon.
Roads in and to the city were reopened at midday after being
closed off since early morning.

Two Palestinian women were drowned in flash floods in the
West Bank yesterday, the Wafa news agency said.

Israeli army rescue units used military helicopters and
naval boats to assist people stranded by rising waters at
several locations throughout the country.

“The emergency and rescue forces are struggling around the
clock in the storm in order to save lives,” Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an e-mailed statement.

The snowstorm in Jerusalem and other high areas in the
north of Israel cost local industry up to 170 million shekels
($45 million), as people were prevented from reaching work, the
Manufacturers Association of Israel said in an e-mailed
statement. Losses to the economy from flooding elsewhere in the
country during the week reached at least 300 million shekels,
the association said.

To the north, large areas of Beirut as well as the northern
Metn coast are without power and Lebanon’s electricity company
is unable to make repairs to restore it because of an ongoing
strike by employees, the country’s official National News Agency
said today.

Electricite du Liban said in a statement carried by NNA
that the cuts were caused by a fault in a cable linking the main
stations between Aramoun, south of Beirut, and Horsh Beirut.